Are you afraid of the dark?

PART 1

Are you afraid of the dark?

Darkness can be scary. Things can creep in unnoticed and
completely terrify you. When in darkness it is hard to see; it is hard to get around and it is just not a place anyone I know wants to be. Don’t let yourself go into darkness: the kind of darkness that is on the other side of Christ-following. It can be easy to slip into
darkness because our modern day, busy, on-the-go lifestyle distracts and discourages us, we fall further and further away from God, and then we wonder where He went, when really we are the ones that drifted. God has been there all along. He never left you; you were just too busy to see that. Don’t blame Him, it is the side of darkness you should be angry with.

There are 2 sides: Good and evil. The side of good is God driven and glorifying to God and the evil side it out to ruin and destroy. It is a constant battle to be fought on a regular basis. What is the most effective way to stay away from the dark side? The answer: Fear the Lord. When we fear the Lord we strive to please Him, we inherit wisdom, and we are strengthened to fight against evil.

Fearing the Lord is the same kind of fear that we should have had towards our parents when we were kids, a fear that if we did not obey we would be punished. When we had this kind of fear it steered us away from doing wrong and we were rewarded in some way. This is the kind of fear that we should have of our Lord, Jesus. 

The book of Proverbs talks a lot about fearing the Lord and what some of the punishments and rewards are of doing so. I have taken the time to examine what this book says directly regarding the fear of the Lord. These verses are all key ingredients that will help prevent us from being pulled into the dark side. Let’s take a look:

Proverbs 2:1-5

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.

Proverbs 3:7
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 8:13

All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.

Proverbs 9:10

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

Proverbs 10:27

Fear of the Lord lengthens one’s life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

Proverbs 14:26-27

Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children. Fear of the Lord is a life giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death.

Proverbs15:16

Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.

Proverbs 16:6

Unfailing love and faithfulness make atonement for sin, By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil.

Proverbs 19:23

Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.

Proverbs 22:4

True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life.

Proverbs 23:17           

Don’t envy sinners but always continue to fear the Lord.

Proverbs 24: 21-22

My Child, fear the Lord and the king. Don’t associate with rebels, for disaster will hit them suddenly. Who knows what punishment will come from the Lord and the king?

Ok, so clearly we SHOULD fear the Lord. Let’s recap the benefits of fearing the Lord.

Fearing the Lord will:

• Help you gain knowledge of God.
• Turn away from evil.
• Will hate evil.
• Be a foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
• Lengthen one’s life.
• Give you security; he will be a refuge for your children.
• Offer escape from the snares of death.
• Be better than having little.
• Help you avoid evil.
• Lead to life and bring security and protection from harm.
• Lead to riches, honor, and a long life.
• Turn you away from envying sinners.
• Turn you to the king and away from rebels that will endure disaster and unknown punishments given by the Lord.
  
  

PART 2
Acts 5:1-11

But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart. You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified, Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price”. And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. GREAT FEAR gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

I don’t know about you, but I know that after hearing or even witnessing this event would definitely stir a fear of God in me. Think about this: Ananias and his wife Sapphira had good intentions of actually doing a good thing, they were giving of their money. They did not have to, it was a decision that they both agreed upon. There is nothing wrong with giving, right? Well, we all know where they went wrong. They both lied. It was just a little white lie, no harm in that, right? WRONG! God certainly didn’t think so. He struck them dead…because they lied! Not because they murdered, committed adultery, or any other seemingly worse crime. They only lied. God has the power to strike us dead just as easily! He may choose another route in striking our death. Perhaps a car wreck, a plane crash or an unexpected health problem will take us to our death. My point is, God is just as powerful today as He was the day Ananias and his wife were stricken dead. Therefore, we should fear Him just the same!

One of our biggest problems today in our spiritual walk with God is that we try to continue on as normal past “speed bumps” that God allows in our life. We tend to get angry and even panic. We then try to find a way around the speed bump on our own, instead of relying on God to get us over it. If we responded to such speed bumps with full faith in God that He would get us over it, we would definitely see a new light in the situation. Perhaps a blessing that was never anticipated, or maybe a new word that the Lord is “texting” you would have occurred. We mustn’t ignore such opportunities. We need to STOP avoiding them!

In order to see God’s glory we must repent and allow our flesh to be dead. If we reach out with our flesh we are stopping the God that we are trying to contain in a box. After all, we don’t want to be knocked off our rickety man-made programs and traditions right? We shouldn’t be surprised when God’s glory breaks us out of our doctrinal and traditional box.

When God’s glory encounters living flesh it is because we allowed something within us to die.

We must remember this, especially when we are wondering why we are facing troubles and when things just don’t seem to be going “our way”. We should be asking ourselves: “What am I doing? Should I really be the one doing this?” We should be letting God be the one intervening and stop trying to be our own superhero.

Is it too much for you to stomach true repentance, the awesome flesh-death experience? Are you serious about God’s coming? Do you really want Him to come? Well, guess what? If you really want His presence you are going to have to do things His way. Why? Well, for starters He could kill you! Just as He killed Ananias and his wife. Does that sound a little extreme? Well, God wants us to do things His way to the extreme. Whether that makes us look foolish and silly, we should do it anyway because we do not know the plan that He has.

Sometimes we don’t learn the first time and maybe not even the second time around. But, when you look at how God has worked in your life, reflect on your history with Him. Study the history of past moves of God and his historical examples in His word. While studying His word in particular, we can learn so much! We also need to remember that God doesn’t always have to manifest Himself in things that are seen by our flesh. We shouldn’t be looking for sensationalism, we should be looking for God . We should be living our lives with the awareness of His CONSTANT presence. We should be careful to not let that awareness become so casual that we don’t see His presence as sacred anymore. We should be willing to see Him at any cost.

Are you looking for the light switch? Is it dark in “your room” with God? Do you want God to turn on the power in your life? We turn on the light switch by bringing back the respect for God’s power. For example: Any experienced electrician will tell you that they always turn off the power before wiring a house. Chances are, he has experienced what happens when he keeps the power on while wiring, OUCH!  From experience, the electrician has developed a respect for the power of electricity and the effect it has on unprotected flesh. Think about it. God wants us to turn our “do-it-yourself” fleshly mentality off so that He can work in our lives without having to ZAP us to get our attention so he can make His “electricity” work in our lives. Nothing should be worth holding onto so hard that you can’t experience His power.

Proverbs 19:23

Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.

Is this power of God worth it to you? What do you have to lose?